Puella Magi Marissa Mojika
by Jonquil Gemstone
Summary: The series told from the perspective of OC Marissa Mojika from my OS. There is more to everything in this series than meets the eye, and she is no exception...still, she finds herself in something bigger than she's ever known. Who is Homura Akemi, and what is her connection with Madoka Kaname? More importantly, Marissa has other questions. If you've not seen PMMM, never fear.
1. Ep1 P1

**I just watched Puella Magi Madoka Magika for the first time, and I decided to rewrite the series with a new character added into it! This will, of course, affect the outcome of the 12-episode series.**

 **The episodes are subdivided into parts. I hope everyone enjoys reading from Marissa Mojika's perspective! Don't worry, I don't own Madoka Magika, although Marissa is mine as an OC.**

 _Episode 1_

 **I.**

The teacher clears her throat as the class quiets down. "I have a very important issue to discuss today—so eyes front, ears open," she announces.

I carefully brush my fingers along the outside layers of my dirty blonde hair. Its natural curls are elegant spirals today, carefully brushed for my first day of school. I take a breath and loosen my neck, ready to be introduced.

To my surprise, she fixes her stance and demands a student near her answer "The correct way to fry an egg: sunny-side up or down?"

The poor boy stutters "Uh, you can fry it either way, can't you?"

"Precisely!" the teacher exclaims triumphantly. "You can fry it either way; therefore, it should go without saying that you should _never_ judge a woman's beauty by the way she fries her eggs!" She snaps her grey rod in two. "Remember girls: do not associate with men who refuse to eat eggs that have been fried sunny-side down!"

I raise my eyebrows slightly and blink. I give the girl beside me a confused look. Her dull black—almost grey—hair is even longer than mine, and it somehow splits into two outward-curving locks in the bottom half. Her purple eyes are disinterested and angsty. She never speaks to me except when spoken to. I chuckle.

"I wonder if she does that very often" I say to her.

"She does, almost every day" the girl says matter-of-factly. I raise one eyebrow this time.

"Well, then…" _I suppose someone told her_. A part of me wonders if she already knows someone in this school. "I suppose this will be an interesting class" I speak in my best Japanese. Thankfully, I've always had a knack for learning new languages in a short time. I still can't believe I only had a month's notice, though!

"Well, now that that's out of the way," the teacher abruptly ends her ranting and takes on a sunny-side tone, "let's give a warm welcome to our new students!" she smiles at us, and I give a closed smile back. "Come in Miss Akemi, Miss Mojika. Don't be shy."

The girl shifts her weight, looking away from me. Staring dead ahead, she steps ahead of me through the door as if she's done this a thousand times over. Honestly, she acts like this is such an awful chore, which exasperates me. _Hopefully, not everyone in class is so negative._

Miss Akemi strides into the room, and the class murmurs. I follow in a like manner, except I smile at my new classmates and nod to them as I pass. _Personally, I care more about being nice to people than looking cool._ The two of us reach the front center and face everyone. I hold my bag in front of me with both hands and look the teacher in the eyes while she's still addressing us.

"Why don't you go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourselves?" she inquires.

"I am Homura Akemi. It's nice to meet you." Homura Akemi greets in a monotone, looking extremely bored with the whole procedure, hands down at her sides and face tired. She completes her name on the board, which the teacher was writing at first, and bows to the class. Everyone appears rather stunned, but then they applaud her warmly. Homura moves over so I can take my own turn.

"My name is Marissa Mojika, and I'm glad to be here with you in Japan." Deciding to go with the flow, I write my own name on the whiteboard and bow my head, bending at the waist when I recall my lackluster knowledge about Japanese etiquette. The class starts murmuring yet again, and I catch snippets of people wondering if I'm foreign and where I'm from.

There's an awkward silence, and I wonder what it's about until I see a pink-haired girl with ribbons in her hair blushing and looking very uncomfortable. I look around and find Homura staring the poor girl down. I delicately clear my throat: it's silent and not very effective, but it draws attention enough.

"Shall we take our seats now?" I ask the teacher. My face resembles boredom and elevated disapproval.

"Yes, of course, Miss Mojika. Miss Akemi?" the teacher smiles again, and the day continues until the social hour.


	2. Ep1 P2

**II.**

Of course, Homura being the edgier of us new girls, she gets more people asking her questions. I sit at my desk in the opposite corner from her, answering questions of my own.

"Where are you from?" a boy asks me.

"I'm from the USA," I answer.

"Cool! What part of it?" a girl inquires.

"I've always wanted to go there!" another exclaims.

"What's it like?" the same boy asks.

"Whoa, give her some space, guys," a second boy tells them.

"Oh! Sorry…" They seem a little downcast.

"Don't worry about it," I tell the group (though they were getting overwhelming), "In any case, I'm happy to answer your questions!" I narrate my journey from homeschooling in Alaska—pausing to answer questions about it—to boarding school in Pennsylvania—answering questions about that—to studying in Japan starting eighth grade. Of course, there're questions about the last part, as well.

Eventually, the social period ends and the barrage of questions with it.

During mathematics, Homura finishes the equations so quickly on the whiteboard, I barely keep up with my notes, despite my most efficient methods. _That speed…does she have powers?_ I wonder.

During gym, she breaks record after record. I would be happy for her—after all, why not befriend the other new girl? Unfortunately, I simply don't care. She keeps glaring at the poor pink-haired girl from before, whose name is apparently Madoka Kaname. I learned earlier she's the nurse's aide for our class. Instead of acknowledging the new fans around her, Homura stares at Madoka. The latter hides behind her friend, a blue-haired girl. Seeing neither of her two friends doing much to comfort her, I walk over to Madoka.

"Hello," I smile at Madoka, whom I apparently startled. _Wow,_ I couldn't help thinking, _she is really terrified a lot, isn't she?_ She reminds me of a rabbit.

"H-hello," she stammers back. Her voice is high-pitched, almost like a child's, "Miss Mojika."

"You may call me Marissa," I tell her. "We don't usually call our classmates 'Miss' in the United States, so I don't mind."

"Oh, um…okay, then. I'm Madoka Kaname."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Kaname" I raise my hand to offer a handshake, but I lower it before I accidentally make her uncomfortable again. "I couldn't help but notice you're a bit nervous. If it's because Homura Akemi keeps looking your way, don't worry." I smile broadly. "I'll be right here for you."

"Oh. Thank you, that's very nice of you."

"Yeah, I've been wondering," her blue-haired friend speaks up, "What's up with that? Do you know?"

"Actually, no," I admit. "Have you ever met her, Miss Kaname?"

"No, and…you can call me Madoka…if you want…I mean, you're letting me call you Marissa, right? So, it's only fair." Madoka smiles sweetly, and I thank her.

 **Again, I do not own PMMM.**


	3. Ep1 P3

**III.**

Eventually, we get to eat, and I sit with Madoka and her friends, Hitomi and Sayaka. When Madoka tells us of her strange interactions with Homura during the social period, Sayaka's shocked.

"And here I thought she was this awesome girl, but it turns out she's a total psycho!" Sayaka groans. "I hope she doesn't think acting like a weird transfer student is cool." She slams her face onto the table and adds something I don't understand. Hitomi gives a half-smile and a short giggle, not unlike how I sometimes do.

I'm a bit too full of thoughts to pay attention, though. Homura turned to Madoka, asked if she valued her life and family, told her never to change, and left her abruptly. Perhaps she has some sort of mental or personality disorder…but if so, what could it possibly be? Hormonal, perhaps? That would explain the need for going to the nurse's office today. Unless there is something else going on…

I zone back into the conversation when I hear Madoka talking about a dream she had.

"All I know is, it was really strange and spooky" Madoka explains.

"Aw, poor Madoka," I sympathize. "In any case, most dreams are just random pieces of information your brain puts together during sleep. If you don't remember it vividly, and it's not recurring, it may not really mean anything."

"Right," Hitomi agrees. "Perhaps you've met her before. You may not remember it, but your subconscious definitely took note of it."

 _So, this is still Homura we're speaking of,_ I take note. I want to go off alone and think of this immediately, but if there's more information to be had, I might wish to stick around and catch it.

 **I do not own PMMM, nor will I buy it anytime soon ;P.**


	4. Ep1 P4

**IV.**

Now, I am interested in thinking about Homura. She seems exceptionally intelligent, at least academically. Her social skills are lackluster at best, but people still seem drawn to her angsty, lone wolf airs. She moves through everything—work, walking, even conversations—as if she simply wants to get them over with. She looks tired of everything. Then again, perhaps it was a stressful day for her. I'll have to see later, once we've both adjusted.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Madoka. She's cheerful, timid, and deeply caring in how she treats people. Her academic skills seem very good: she does all her work on time, tries her best, and gets most answers correct. She moves through everything like each little task and interaction counts for something. If she's like this all the time, I understand why someone would want her never to change.

 _Homura wanted her to stay the same,_ I reflect, _for the sake of her family._ Perhaps Madoka reminds her of someone she knew before. _Then again, the dream suggests Madoka did meet her in the past._ If Homura looked around the same age as she is now—enough so Madoka recognized her from the dream—then it must have been recently that they last saw each other. _She must have seen her in passing, at least._ That seems like a decent explanation, one worth sharing with Madoka if she's still worrying about the matter.

"Want to come with us?" I hear Madoka asking me.

"Oh, of course!" I respond. Wherever we're going, it would be good for me to spend time with nice girls like Madoka and Sayaka.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Sayaka asks, "You seemed kinda zoned out there."

"Sorry about that," I apologize a little sheepishly. "I was just thinking about all this information about Homura. I don't think it's too important, but it's still very interesting to wonder about."

"Oh, brother," Sayaka puts a hand on her forehead, "not this again!"

"Really? What do you think about it?" Madoka asks eagerly. It seems she really does want to put her finger on her connection to Homura Akemi.

"I believe you two might have seen each other in passing, like on the streets or at a store," I present my theory, "and you may have reminded her of someone she knew and cared about."

"Huh, I guess that could explain a lot…" she doesn't seem so convinced, but it's something.

"Anyways, where're we going, Sayaka?" I ask, seeing she's more anxious to go than to talk about 'total psycho' Homura.

"The music store. Let's go!" She points the way and marches off. After a while, she realizes Madoka and I are still standing in place! She turns around and waves us over. "Well, come on!" she commands cheerfully. "We don't have all day!"

Madoka glances at me, then runs after Sayaka, and I follow suit. The two of them giggle like the schoolgirls they are. I direct my eyes to the heavens.

 _Oh, dear Lord,_ I wonder to him, _what kinds of people am I making friends with?_

I could almost hear the answer: _Good people._

 **The "M"s in PMMM do** **not** **stand for "mine".**


	5. Ep1 P5

**V.**

At the music store, I'm pleasantly surprised at being able to listen to music at different stations! Not having a favorite genre made it difficult to choose what to listen to, though...

I see Sayaka blissfully sampling classical music. Not wanting to interrupt her, I go to Madoka, who seems to be looking around. Something is odd, though…she seems to be listening for something other than music.

"Do you hear something, Madoka?" I whisper, thinking it might be important.

Not saying anything in return, Madoka cups a hand over her ear and walks off. I follow her quietly, taking that as a 'yes, and it's important'. I glance back to meet Sayaka's confused eyes. I'm just as confused, but I continue following Madoka. She and I go to a door with a sign on it:

FLOOR CLOSED

DUE TO REMODELING

"Are we going in there?" I whisper.

Madoka nods, and I press my lips together. She hesitates at the steps leading to it, and I take the opportunity to ask why.

"Can't you hear it?" she asks me, "Someone's calling for help."

I scrutinize the sign on the door. This may be a trick of her ears…or her mind. _Then again…_ "Let's be careful, then" I caution. On the off-chance of her being right, we ought to check it out and help, if needed.

She nods, and we find ourselves in a pitch dark part of the building. Madoka tiptoes with her shoulders nearly reaching her ears, like in a cartoon. She holds her arms close and her hands up, obviously scared. I walk in, shoulders tense but otherwise calm.

"It's okay, Madoka," I reassure her, "I'm here to help you help whoever needs it." She gives me a grateful look, and we begin searching, her footsteps resounding while I walk without a sound.

"Where are you?" she calls timidly, "Um, do I know you?" She must hear something, for she stops and looks up at the air vents. Soon, I hear a clattering, and something white falls to the ground before us!

"Are you okay?" she gasps, getting on her knees and scooping it into her arms. It's a catlike creature with two strange locks of fur beneath its ears. A red teardrop-shaped outline marks its beautiful white fur. The creature is covered with medium bloodstains and is missing some skin here and there. "Is that you?" she asks.

I remain standing and ready to guard against danger.

"Help me…" this time, I could hear it, too. Its voice is faint.

A crashing sound, and Homura Akemi stands in front of us.

"H-Homura?" Madoka stutters in disbelief.

"Get away from that creature." Homura demands, her violet eyes cold as ever.

"What's going on, Akemi?" I demand to know, dropping into a ready stance, preparing for hand-to-hand combat. She's wearing a different outfit from her uniform, and I could see a small shield on her wrist. As far as I can tell, she's not armed beyond that…but the creature is still bleeding. _For now, I won't let on the fact that I'm armed._

"This doesn't concern you."

"But he was calling me—" Madoka begins, but I hold out a hand to cut her off, straightening my posture.

"Unless you tell us, we're not letting you touch him." I match Homura's cool, disinterested tone. "We can't let you kill it without cause, after all."

"Really," Homura insists, stepping towards us. I open my jacket and pull my knife from its hidden sheath. She stops. I step in front of Madoka protectively.

"M-Marissa?" Madoka is now further surprised. "What is that? What are you doing?"

I stare at Homura, holding the grooved black handle of the dagger in my fist. With my finger in the ring at its top, I point it outwards, towards Homura. We stare each other down in utter silence. Neither she nor Madoka could see the button my thumb hovers over, which would cause my dagger to fire an electric shock with a range of fifty meters.

"What are you doing in here, and why attack this creature?" I interrogate again. Suddenly, a wall of foam engulfs me and Homura!

"Over here, Madoka!" Sayaka calls from the source of the foam: a fire extinguisher.

"Sayaka!" Madoka breathes in relief and runs to her with the creature still in her arms. They run to safety. Sayaka disposes of the extinguisher, leaving me alone with Homura Akemi!

 **Do I own PMMM? Let me check for a receipt somewhere...nope, sorry! I do not own it!**


	6. Ep1 P6

**VI.**

With a wave of her arm, Homura somehow dispels all the foam. Before she or I could do anything else, something strange happens.

The halls become a crazy, colorful, shifting world, like something out of a drug trip.

"What is this, Homura?" I demand to know.

"Why is this happening now?" she complains. The first inkling of emotion I hear from her, and it's frustration. "If you want to survive, stay close to me."

"Fine." I have little other choice but to trust her. I have no idea what's going on, after all, and this is no dream. "Will Sayaka and Madoka be alright?"

"She has to be. Madoka has to be!" The second shade of emotion enters Homura's voice. She somehow desperately wants Madoka to be alright—I can tell that much from that tiny slip of her shell.

Homura leads me through the strange, changing, somewhat annoying new place, until suddenly, the world shifts back to its normal self. We see Madoka and Sayaka facing a girl with blonde pigtails and a tea party-esque outfit with a yellow, white, and black color scheme. The creature in Madoka's arms seems healed, from what little I could see. The blonde girl turns to Homura and addresses her.

"The witch managed to escape. If you wanna finish it off, you'd better go after it. I won't mind if you take it this time."

 _Witch? What does she mean by witch?_ I wonder. Someone who practices witchcraft, or a creature called a 'witch'? _Could this really involve powers, or is it something else?_

"But I still have work to do here." Homura looks at the unconscious creature pointedly.

"You don't understand, do you? I'm telling you I'm willing to overlook this."

Homura lifts her chin, seemingly insulted at the girl's gall.

"Don't you think it would be best if we didn't do this right now?" The blonde holds Homura's gaze like a champion. Homura turns on her heel after a while and leaps away, presumably to go witch hunting.

I want to go with Homura; however, this girl seems more open than she is. Hopefully, I'll see Homura tomorrow in class, but until then, I ought to stay with Madoka and Sayaka to show them they can trust me. I look at the girl while Sayaka and Madoka watch me intensely, wondering what I'll do next.

"I hope I'm not intruding," I say to the blonde, "but I'd like to see how the poor creature is doing after those injuries." I wave a hand towards the little creature, who's beginning to stir in Madoka's arms.

"And why should I trust you?" The girl inquires with the same cool tone she used with Homura. I'm about to ask why shouldn't she, when I realize I'm still holding my dagger.

"Because I'm not a part of whatever rivalry you have with her," I speak slowly, "and I'm still friends with those two." I nod to Madoka and Sayaka. Sayaka clenches her fist.

"How do we know you're not a psycho, too, just like the transfer student? You're carrying a knife!" she goes off on me. I keep my temper in check so I don't blow up like she's doing.

"I was doing it to protect Madoka, and I've _always_ had it for defensive purposes. Did you honestly leave me behind just because I had a _knife_ aimed at _an attacker_?" That shuts her up for now, her whole body trembling. _Hmph,_ I note, _Impulsive to a fault._ I narrow my cold blue eyes at her until she looks away. I look at the blonde girl again and await an answer. Madoka pipes up after a while.

"Sh-she did help me save him, Miss. Maybe you should give her a chance." Madoka may be more timid than she can afford to be at times, but at least she's willing to stand up for me in her own way.

The blonde scrutinizes my face, and I blink and relax enough to look more easily trustworthy.

"Very well," she decides, "come on down here with us!"

"Thank you," I reply civilly, put away my electric dagger, and jump down. It's a long distance, but I trained myself for things like that.

Something unique is happening, and if my new classmates and I are caught up in it…the stakes must be pretty high.

 **Hm, so what** ** _is_** **Marissa's backstory? I wonder how many wonder that ;).**

 **No, I still don't own PMMM. On the bright side, that means I get to post this story here!**

 **I hear manga takes a while to update...consider this a manga minus the drawings! It takes a long time to meticulously go through an episode, put it into words, alter it to fit the involvement of an OC, then separate it into parts...that, and I still need to focus on my numerous other stories XD!**

 **I hope you enjoyed EPISODE ONE of Puella Magi Marissa Mojika!**


	7. Ep2 P1

The girl introduced herself as Mami Tomoe, a ninth grader at their school…and a "magical girl". Marissa figured Homura was also a magical girl, and she found it somewhat suspicious that both were students at Mitaki Hara Middle School.

"Excuse me," Marissa interrupted Mami with a question, "but why exactly is it called a Soul Gem?" Mami seemed a little flustered.

"I never really questioned it" Mami admitted. Mami sat across from her, while Madoka and Sayaka sat to Marissa's right and left.

"Aw, come on, Marissa!" Sayaka elbowed her teasingly, "Do you have to question _everything_ Mami says that way?"

"Yes" Marissa replied flatly. "In case you haven't noticed," she looked at Kyubey, the obvious man-in-charge of this operation, "you and Mami are essentially recruiters. Naturally, you want us to think this is even remotely a good deal."

"Oh, but it is a good deal," Kyubey said enthusiastically, "because you haven't even heard the best part yet."

"What's that?" Madoka piped up curiously. She and Sayaka were just eating this up! Mami had them eating out of her hand—almost literally. Marissa took another bite of the dessert Mami served them. Frankly, she thought it was stupid how the blonde claimed not to have much for refreshments, then proceeded to wow them with these delectable goodies. Overall, Marissa disliked Mami more and more.

Kyubey appeared the real threat. He used the most amazing language to describe the terms of his contract. Marissa watched Madoka and Sayaka become entranced when he told them he could grant any "miracle". Hah! Only God performed miracles—anything else had a price tag.

"And what would be the cost of this 'miracle' wish you speak of?" Marissa was not afraid to let the edge cut through her voice. This was obviously a dangerous occupation, if nothing else.

"You'll have to fight witches," Kyubey answered.

"So, the cost for a wish is a life."

"Potentially," Kyubey couldn't deny it.

"But it's for a good cause," Mami rejoined the conversation. She and Kyubey went on for a bit about how awful witches were: causing suicides and murders, festering within people, and sewing seeds of pain and suffering all over the world.

"If there's things like that out there," this time Sayaka had a question, "how come people don't know about 'em?"

 _That's your question? Out of all things?_ Marissa felt like facepalming. They were literally told witches were invisible to humans minutes ago. Besides, people didn't know everything. Not even S.P.A.'s discoveries were common knowledge, and even then the agency had a lot to learn.

"A witch is careful about not letting humans see them. They hide deep in the labyrinths they create." Kyubey explained carefully. "You know that mazelike place you were in today? That was a labyrinth."

"Actually, you were all in a lot of danger." Mami told them.

 _No kidding._ Marissa deadpanned internally.

"If a human ever wanders into one, they seldom make it out alive."

"Is that what you do? You fight these horrible creatures, Mami?" Madoka asked.

"Yes. I risk my life. That's why you should think carefully before you decide." Mami announced dramatically. Madoka looked saddened and awed by this…revelation. Again, they were just told minutes ago that magical girls fought witches. Marissa felt like screaming at her and Sayaka to connect the dots already. These two were clearly a bit slow to process situations like this. They were both raised the same way as anyone else, living inside their own little bubbles of experience. A thought struck Marissa.

"Kyubey," Marissa asked him specifically, "why did you choose Madoka and Sayaka? What makes you think they're suited for this?"

"Kyubey chose them and offered a rare chance," Mami answered instead. "It's true he'll grant whatever wish you can think of…but remember, death _is_ part of that deal."

Madoka gasped, her eyes widening with realization. Fighting evil was more than just pretty gems and coolness.

"At least now you admit it," Marissa spoke, her voice now like a breath of wind. "Thank you for being honest, Mami Tomoe." That was it. There was nothing left to be said after that.

"Now I'm stressed," Sayaka's enchantment was also broken, but she didn't seem as dismayed as Madoka. Both girls whimpered.

Mami offered to take them all on witch hunts to help them decide. Marissa's eyes hardened. She was fine with going, but to take Madoka and Sayaka...not to mention, nobody there knew Marissa was an agent of any kind. She understood why Mami would offer, but…wasn't that a bit risky?

"Surely, you won't be alone in defending us…right, Mami?" Marissa knew Mami had experience-confidence, too—but would that really be enough to keep all three potential recruits safe?

"Seemed to me you're pretty handy with that knife of yours, Marissa," Sayaka said.

"Technically, it's a dagger. Just don't tell anyone about it, okay?"

Mami opened her mouth, as if to say yes, when Kyubey cut in.

"On one condition…if you don't tell anyone about what you've seen and heard today, we won't reveal your secrets." Marissa paused for a moment. Could he have somehow blocked her sensory readings from the tech in her earrings? Did he know she was planning to report all this? How much did he know about her secrets? She had little choice but to play along for now.

"Alright."

"Is it a deal?" Kyubey asked, all business now.

"…It is a deal." She felt something binding about that statement, and it was more than just the usual sense of honor.

 **HAPPY EASTER!**

 **I have to admit, the first time I watched this show, I was mentally yelling at Madoka and Sayaka to question further. I also hated Mami's guts. Marissa doesn't really dislike Mami as much as I did ^^. Sorry to Mami fans out there! I understand we were supposed to see her as Madoka and Sayaka saw her, but I had a hard time sharing their perspectives on...well, many things. I also get that they're emotional, and that's why Kyubey targeted them.**

 **That's how Marissa's character came to be: I wanted to see the story involve a new, sharper character with a better handle on her emotions. Out of this need, I decided to use an OC and make her part of an original fictional universe, Marissa from the S.P.A. (Super-Powered Agency). The SPA story is still not officially written on paper (except for a timeline, some character designs, etc.), but the organization itself is quite solid in my head, as is its history.**

 **Pay attention, because it will play a substantial role, since it's such a big influence on Marissa. That is why I will include "fun facts" about her and the SPA in my author's notes!**

 **POV CHANGE: It has been so long since I worked on this, I forgot to keep writing in first person, present tense!**

 **Should I change back, or not? GIVE YOUR TWO CENTS IN THE POLL on my profile!**


	8. Ep2 P2

Marissa found herself waking up in a cold sweat the next morning. Grabbing her knees, she gazed pensively around her apartment. That "Kyubey" character—the white cat-like creature—gave her a strange feeling. It just didn't feel right. Marissa found herself wishing her older sister, Cassida Rosewood, was there to hold her and say "It's alright. God willing, everything will turn out well". She fought back tears out of habit until she remembered the warning Sirens always gave her: if she didn't let out all her emotions somehow, they would overpower her when push came to shove.

 _Come to think of it,_ Marissa realized, _I'm all on my own for the first time since…_ That did it for her. She had her first good cry in a long time. Without any Siren councilors or trainers there, her most painful memories resurfaced, along with her secret fears and worries. When she was down to her last sniffles, she wiped her eyes and remembered something Cassida told her:

 _"_ _When I feel my heart breaking apart," Cassida's deep green eyes met hers, "I place everything at the foot of the cross and remember Jesus felt all this and more. He can help us bear the weight of our souls, and he will never waste our suffering." Indeed, despite the pain in Cass's face, a certain foundation of peace glowed beneath it, like embers in a pile of wood._

Taking a deep breath, Marissa started feeling better, and took heart for the day. Checking her alarm clock, she still had a couple of hours before having to get ready for school. She looked over her notes from the night before.

Marissa sighed. How could she report something she promised not to reveal? Kyubey communicated telepathically—she was trained to sense mental presences like his—so he would know if she went back on her word. Thankfully, he hasn't intruded unduly…as far as she knew.

 _I'll just have to report exactly that: I'm under oath by a telepathic agreement until further notice, but I believe I found something. Further observation is needed._

Satisfied, Marissa went to school.

 **In this chapter, I wanted to show Marissa's vulnerable side. After all, no matter what, she is still a teenage girl. Her past was more than just training, and her past is what brought her where she is now.**

 **CASSIDA ROSEWOOD? Cassida Rosewood is the head foundress of the SPA, and is responsible for gaining massive government support for the program in many countries around the world. Marissa calls her "sister" because they met when Marissa was 6 years old, and Cassida has been an older sister figure since then.**

 **FUN FACTS:**

 **~The SPA recruits people when still quite young, as their abilities-called "special aptitudes"-tend to manifest around puberty.**

 **~Despite being around the same age as the SPA's "students" (recuits who still are not full-fledged agents), Marissa has more real-world experience because she met and traveled with the leading founders when she was only 6 years old. That's how she gained her elite status, especially since the SPA is short on full-fledged agents.**

 **~At this moment, most of the SPA consists of students because it is still "officially" a brand-new organization (only a couple of years old-talk about fast growth!). One could say it began earlier, though, since the founders were already recruiting and training before gaining official authority.**


End file.
